On 17th May 2024, CaritasRwanda Management Team and staff gathered to honour the former Caritas Rwanda staff who lost their lives in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The commemoration included a requiem Holy Mass, the laying of wreaths at the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the sharing of messages of hope and testimonies.
Seven employees of Caritas Rwanda who were killed during the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 are Rugangura Alphonse, Niyibizi Léopold, Beneyezu Eugène, Karangwa Claver, Bunangwa Eugène, Seromba Raphaël and Nyirababiri Joséphine. In addition to Caritas Rwanda management team and staff, the memorial ceremony was attended by the families of the victims and representatives of various invited institutions.
After the celebration of a requiem mass (at the Lavigerie Missionary Center) presided over by Father Kayisabe Védaste, Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda, the participants visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial where they were explained the history of Jenoside perpetrated against the Tutsi in 1994 (before, during and after its occurrence). They also paid tribute to those killed during the Genocide against the Tutsis in 1994 and laid wreaths on the graves of those who rest at the Kigali Genocide Memorial.
In his speech at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the Secretary General of Caritas Rwanda, Father Oscar Kagimbura, said that this commemoration aimed to remind everyone of their responsibility to value human life. “Life is a gift from God, no one has the right to take it away from their neighbor”, he added.
During the speeches and testimonies time, Mwanangu Juvénal, one of the employees of Caritas Rwanda, testified that Caritas Rwanda offered him a job when he had taken refuge in Kigali from Ruhengeri (his natal province at that time), also offering him a new family. He added that the period preceding the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 was not easy, and shared his memories about his Caritas Rwanda colleagues who perished in the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.
Niyibizi Albert, who delivered the speech on behalf of the families of Caritas Rwanda employees perished in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, thanked Caritas Rwanda for involving them in the commemoration of their late beloved ones, adding that although the families and the Country lost people and property because of the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in 1994, today life offers hope.
Hamudu Safari, president of Ibuka in Nyarugenge district, commended Caritas Rwanda for its non-discriminatory love, saying he witnesses it as Caritas Rwanda offered a job to his muslim father. Hamidu also talked about the contribution of Caritas Rwanda to the reconstruction of Rwanda after the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in 1994: “Caritas was the first to rescue the survivors of the genocide. Although I don’t have the actual statistics, Caritas has helped orphans, widows, paid children’s school fees, etc. I am one of those to whom Caritas supported through the work offered to my father in difficult times, which allowed him to pay for our studies, and now we have become men thanks to Caritas.”
In his message, Father Kayisabe Védaste recalled that it is easier to do good than to do evil. “Which is easy, between to kill or not to kill? We are here to learn. We must learn from our history,” he said. Father Kayisabe thanked Caritas Rwanda for organizing this memorial event, as well as all the participants, in particular the families of Caritas Rwanda employees who perished in the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, reminding them that Caritas always carries them in its heart.